Bad Day
by P-Artsypants
Summary: Marinette was Ladybug! This was Adrien's luckiest day ever! Except it wasn't, because all his good luck was used up in one go. Turns out this might be the worst day of his life.
1. Morning

"Pound it!" Ladybug and Chat connected fists after a job well done.

His ring beeped right on schedule, having used his cataclysm earlier than she had used Lucky Charm.

"Go ahead, I'll take care of the victim." She smiled so politely and rested a hand on his arm.

He nearly swooned.

"Go!" She chided with a laugh.

He blew her a kiss as he departed. It was an early morning, just before school. Early enough that classes probably wouldn't be cancelled. The akuma had been a quick run, though the time he had intended to use for studying in the library was gobbled up instead. Oh well. That was the whole point of studying, staying ahead so when the akumas overwhelmed him, his grades didn't suffer.

The courtyard was still relatively empty, as there was still a good twenty minutes before classes started.

He rushed to the bathroom, keeping a careful eye on the students, though no one noticed he was there.

He took the first stall, and his transformation fell just as he cleared the door.

Plagg fell in his hands, immediately begging for cheese.

Adrien laughed and gave him a little wedge. "There, I have more in my bag, but I have to go while we're here."

"Go? Go where?"

"You know…_go_." He gestured to the toilet. "It's poo-thirty."

"Aw man," Plagg whined. "Couldn't you hold it until we got home so I can leave the room?"

"Don't be such a baby." Adrien chastised, dropping Plagg in his pocket. He undid his buttons, dropped trou, and let nature take its course. Aimlessly, he scrolled through the Ladyblog on his phone while he did his business.

Then he noticed that the door was slightly cracked open.

"Oh narts, this the stall with the bad lock." He sighed. Reaching his leg out, he toed the door, having it hit the jam and rebound back, opening wider. Adrien groaned, "Plagg, can you—"

"Nuh uh. I'm not coming out until you're done with your disgusting human behavior."

Adrien rolled his eyes at his ridiculous kwami. Oh well. It was still early, and he'd be done in a minute. Surely it was no big deal?

Except someone was running towards the bathroom.

And then running to his stall.

Into his stall, with their back to him.

A gorgeous back, with an adorable butt, covered in red and black, and hiding. Then, there was a flash of pink, and the red and black gave way to a dark gray jacket and soft pink pants. An outfit he had seen nearly everyday.

He choked on air, wanting to say something, and also very aware of the fact that his pants and boxers were around his ankles.

Not how he imagined the reveal would go down at all.

So he simply held his breath, vying his time.

She didn't wait long, only a couple seconds really, it had just felt like an hour being in that space with her. As she left, he made eye contact with her kwami.

She saw. She saw that he saw.

Then he was alone again, his eyes staring forward, unseeing.

Marinette.

Marinette was Ladybug.

Beautiful, sweet, kind, and righteous Marinette was his Ladybug. Of course she was! It made perfect sense! They had the same eyes, the same black hair that shined blue in the light! The same laugh! Oh it was perfect!

It was—

Oh no.

He had to tell her. But she HATED the idea of him knowing her identity! Hated anyone knowing!

Why did it have to happen while he was on the _can_?

How was he supposed to explain this without completely embarrassing both of them? It was completely unfair!

"Sorry Marinette I saw you detransforming while I was dropping off the Cosby kids at the pool, sorry!" Like that was a good option!

But then again, he was finding it too hard to be upset about it when the truth of 'Marinette is Ladybug' reverberated in his head.

They'd work it out. Somehow. But now he just had to get through the day without melting into goo around her.

Maybe he'd turn on the Chat Noir charm.

No, that'd be too suspicious.

"Are you gonna poop or what?" Asked Plagg.

Adrien scoffed at him.

Then his kwami chuckled, lowly, manically.

"What are you up to, you little creature?"

"Oh, I'm not up to anything. I just had…a premonition, if you will."

"Care to enlighten me?"

"Do you feel lucky?"

"What kind of question is that? Uh…I mean, I just found out who the love of my life is, so…yeah?"

"The luckiest you've ever been?"

"Yeah, in a way."

"That's what I thought." Plagg snickered again.

"What?"

"Oh nothing…really. Just that…I have a feeling you used up all your good luck for the day."

"What? Is that a thing?"

"Just hurry up and finish. Nasty boy."

Rolling his eyes at his kwami, Adrien finished his business. Afterwards, he left his stall just as Kim came in.

"Yo!"

"Howdy!"

Kim took his stall, and Adrien went to wash his hands.

"Holy shit!" Kim shouted.

A bad feeling settled in Adrien's stomach. _Did I forget to flush?_

Ah, it was probably no big deal.

He finished up, and went into the locker room, where Nino was putting his stuff away.

"Hey man," Adrien greeted pleasantly.

"Sup dude! If I had known you'd be early, I would have waited out front for you."

"Oh no, no worries. I've been here for a while. Needed to use the library." That had been the initial plan, before the Akuma had struck. So not a complete lie.

"For the essay?"

"Yep."

"I haven't even started, dude. I mean, I have a topic idea but.." Nino went on, but Adrien's mind had begun to wander.

Back to Marinette.

His lady.

His bugaboo.

He giggled.

Nino frowned at him. "Dude, what's so funny about the holocaust?"

Adrien's eyes widened. "No no I wasn't—no, sorry. I was listening! But I was also thinking...uh, so you're doing your essay on the holocaust?"

"Well, I'm thinking of doing a comparative piece between the holocaust and..."

And he was off again.

Not that he didn't love Nino immensely, but this was the biggest revelation of his life! He wasn't going to pay any attention to anything for the rest of the day.

Oh how badly he wanted to sit behind Marinette, so he could stare at her all day.

A little creepy, but cut him some slack.

"…it's not really comparing the Holocaust to country music, but it's finding similar themes, you know? Is that the dumbest idea you've heard?"

"Yeah…" Adrien said with a pleasant smile on his face.

"Yeah? My idea is dumb?"

"Sure is."

"Well…thanks for that, I guess."

"Hmm mmm…say Nino, is Marinette interested in anyone?"

Nino blinked a few times. "What?"

"I just thought you might know, since you're dating Alya and all."

Nino snickered. "Oh, I see what this is about. Finally got your head out of your ass, huh?"

Adrien blinked heavily at him. "W-what?"

"Oh come on. Everyone can see when you give her your patented 'soft eyes'."

"My what?"

"You know, you get this dopey smile on your face, and then your eyebrows turn up and your eyes get all misty, and then you look like you're going to cry."

"What! I do not do that!"

"There was a spider on Rose's desk, and Marinette gently scooped it up and put it outside, even though she's scared of spiders too."

Adrien's heart melted. "Aw, she did?"

Nino snapped a picture on his phone. "Bam, heart eyes."

Adrien narrowed those heart eyes into slits. "What's your game, Lahiffe?"

"You're in love with Marinette."

Adrien blinked. "Yeah, I was getting to that."

Nino gawked. "You-you were!? You are!?"

"Yeah, I mean…I just realized it today. I thought I was in love with someone else, but…" Technically, he still was, but knowing that Ladybug was Marinette only made his feelings stronger and feel more solid.

Marinette was Ladybug!

Adrien then realized Nino was giving him a knowing look. "You've got it bad, dude." He chuckled.

Adrien huffed and crossed his arms. "Well, are you going to tell me who she likes, or what?"

It was then that Kim came out of the bathroom, and made hard eye contact with Adrien. "I see you there. It's on, Agreste."

"What's on?"

"You know Le Chien Kim doesn't back down from a challenge!"

"What challenge?!"

"As if you didn't know!"

"I don't know!"

Kim just gave a smirk and walked out of the room.

"Uh, what the hell was that?" Asked Nino.

"You're guess is as good as mine with Kim."

"Fair."

"So anyways...Marinette? Her crush? Help a guy out?"

Nino rolled his eyes. "Look dude, if I tell you, I'm dead meat, per Alya. But, you should absolutely ask her out. She won't say no."

"...is it me then? Does she like me?"

"Again, I'm a dead man. But her fondness for you surpasses 'friendship', ya dig?"

His lady liked him! She liked Adrien!

"God, you make me sick." Nino chuckled. "You make sure to turn those soft eyes on Marinette. She'll turn to goo."

"Noted!" Adrien beamed. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go woo Milady."

"Christ."

Adrien haughtily tossed a smirk over his shoulder, and then turned to rush out of the room.

Only, Plagg's premonition would come true. With a vengeance.

In one step, his shoelace broke and he stepped completely out of his sneaker. With the momentum he created in takeoff, he launched several steps until he collided his pinkie toe with the corner of the lockers.

Oh mama.

He was down.

Clutching his foot like his life depended on it, Adrien dropped to the floor and let out a string of curses that would make Chat Noir blush.

"Oof, dude, you okay?"

Adrien couldn't tell if he was laughing or crying.

But oh, did it suck.

"Let's go to the nurse."

"No." Adrien wheezed out. "I'm good."

"Like hell you are."

"If I go to the nurse, she'll call my dad, and he'll pull me out of school for being in an unsafe environment. _I'm fine!_"

Though the tears streaming down his cheeks did not have Nino convinced. "Whatever dude. Let me help you get to class though, kay?"

Nodding through the pain, Adrien took the offered hand, and together they tottered to homeroom.

As they approached the room, they could hear Kim talking. Everyone in the school could hear him, he was so enthused.

"No, you guys don't understand! It had to be at least two feet! The thickness of my arm! This thing was massive!"

Nino snickered, "What, did he take up fishing?"

"That's not physically possible." Said Alix, just as loud.

"Oh yeah? I took a picture! Look!"

There was a collective shout of 'ew! Kim!' from the class, when Adrien and Nino finally reached the door.

Everyone went silent.

Dead silent.

Adrien's gaze drew immediately to Marinette—His Lady—only to see her avoiding his gaze, with a _very _red face.

Then he noticed that everyone was staring right at him.

"Uh…good morning?" He detached himself from Nino and used the desk to get to his seat.

Alix stood, and just started clapping.

This caused some of the others to start laughing.

"Uh…what's going on?"

"Tch, like you don't know." Said Kim, in a way that inexplicably reminded him of an anime villain.

Adrien rolled his eyes. "I already told you in the locker room, I don't know what the heck you're talking about!"

"You, sir, are the Dump King of Collège Françoise Dupont! And I intend to dethrone you!"

Nino and Adrien looked at each other, and then at Kim.

"Dump King?"

Marinette had her head buried in her hands, unable to look at him. Whatever this Dump King thing was, it was _bad_.

"Yeah dude! I used the bathroom right after you and you left this massive turd! It was two feet, easily! It was standing up in the bowl!"

Adrien's face burned, embarrassment outweighing the pain in his, presumably, broken toe. "Kim…"

"You're so clean and perfect…you'd never leave a message like that unless it was a challenge! And I'm going to start eating fiber ASAP!"

Now it was Adrien's turn to hide his face in his hands.

Nino clapped a sympathetic hand to his shoulder. "Oh man, you broke the number one unspoken rule. No pooping at school."

"If we're not supposed to poop here, why are there toilets?" Adrien whispered back, harshly.

"It's not a hard rule, just a globally recognized one."

"Now you tell me!"

"Oh don't play all naïve, Agreste. I know what you're about."

Adrien trembled in front of the class, because now he had to explain to Kim, in front of all his classmates, and the love of his life, that that hadn't been any kind of challenge. He had simply forgotten to flush. And he normally didn't poop logs. Just, regular sized poops.

Oh man, if it sounded this terrible in his head, it would sound so stupid out loud!

His mind really had to have been gone if he hadn't noticed he left _that_ behind.

"Listen, Kim…" He began, sitting on the edge of the desk. "It's not like that. I'm not the kind of guy that shits and tells."

That was _not _the right thing to say as everyone erupted in laughter, and Adrien's embarrassment only grew deeper.

Fortunately, Marinette was the only one not laughing, as she was probably reeling from second hand embarrassment.

Kim noticed, and draped himself over her shoulders. "Oh come on Mari! Everyone loves a good poop joke!"

"Yeah, when they're five." She muttered.

"You have to admit, Adrien is always impressive. Even his deuces are deuces."

_Shutupshutupshutupshutup_—

"You've got to be a little impressed, aren't you?"

Marinette finally met his eyes and he was fully prepared to cry at her sympathetic gaze. She smiled. "I'm just glad you're healthy."

What.

"I'm doing school under my desk today, thanks everyone." Adrien withered and crawled under their table.

"Dude, come on."

"Adrien's not here right now, he's at the humiliation station. Population: me."

"Don't be so dramatic sunshine, everyone poops." Alya said, by way of consolation.

And it probably would have worked too. If it were any other day. But the day had just started and he was already overwhelmed. He was acutely aware of Marinette's eyes.

Nothing was worse than being embarrassed in front of your crush.

Well, as Chat Noir, he always managed to embarrass himself in front of her. But this was different! He was Adrien! Embarrassing himself as Adrien wasn't just bad for him.

It was bad for his father.

Oh no.

Could his father find out about this? He didn't have a sense of humor, he wouldn't find this funny at all!

"Adrien? Where's Adrien?" Miss Bustier called in attendance. He had been so deep in his self loathing, he hadn't even realized the teacher had come in the room.

"The Dump King is under his desk." Called Kim.

"Dump…? Never mind, I don't want to know. Adrien, please sit in your seat properly."

Resigned, Adrien went to stand but hit his head on the table, eliciting a 'ooo' from the room.

Adrien sat in his chair, slumped in defeat.

Plagg vibrated in his pocket, barely able to contain his laughter.

The kwami was right, today was not going well at all. Despite the wonderful knowledge that Marinette was Ladybug, everything else seemed to go wrong.

He failed his physics test.

He, Adrien Agreste, top grade in Physics, Physic nut, had failed his test.

He just stared at the paper with growing horror. "Miss Mendeliev, there must be some sort of mistake!"

"Sorry Adrien, you know the rules, you don't show your work, you don't get points, even if the answer is right."

"But—"

"If you find the paper you did the problems on, I will regrade it. But it will be a zero in your grades until then."

Frantic, Adrien dumped his backpack out on his desk and began searching for the lost paper.

"Not right now, Mr. Agreste." She said sharply.

Feeling small, Adrien gathered his supplies and stuffed them back into his bag.

During lunch, he was called back to the mansion, even though he had asked to eat with his friends. Though, this wasn't that much of a disappointment, considering that he dealt with it fairly often.

As he left the school, he found Marinette waiting for him. Beautiful, sweet, understanding, and patient.

As he walked up to her, she stuttered and stumbled on her words. "H-Hey Adrien! I'm sorry about what I said in class. Not that I'm not happy that you're healthy! I'm very glad you are! You look great! You always do! I mean—! I just wanted to say...I could tell you were embarrassed by Kim, but I'm sorry I didn't say anything to help."

Adorable. Simply adorable.

He realized that he hadn't responded, and only continued to stare at her longingly.

"Marry me..." he sighed.

Her eyes blew wide as her mouth went slack.

_Quick! Play it off! _

"Mari! You Mari! Me Adrien! Yes, good! Thanks!"

_Nice_.

"Bye!" He damn near shouted, and he hauled ass to his car, limping with each step.

Plagg giggled in his shirt, and whispered up to him. "You're such a dumbass."

"Shush."

After lunch, it was time for gym.

Which was a _fun_ activity with a, presumably, broken toe.

"You going to be okay, dude?" Asked Nino. "You know, if you just show Mr. D'Argencourt your foot, I'm sure he'd let you out of gym."

"I'm fine, I just…need to walk it off."

Nino gave him a flat look. "You've been 'walking it off' for several hours already. It's not getting any less purple."

"I looked it up. There's nothing they can do about a broken toe. They can't set it or anything, so don't worry about it."

At this point, Nino decided to officially give up. "Fine, suffer. Be my guest."

Soccer.

It had to be soccer.

Why not tennis? Why not frisbee? Why not _pickleball_? Any game! Any other fracking game, except for the one that demands you use your foot the entire time!

Adrien reconsidered his life choices. "Excuse me Mr. D'Argencourt, I stubbed my toe really bad earlier. Can I sit out?"

Mr. D'Argencourt, shrewd man that he was, gave Adrien a once over and huffed. "If you must. You can sit with Miss Rossi." He gestured over to Lila, who was beaming at him.

Adrien winced.

"How about goalie?"

The coach was much more willing to have Adrien participate and consented.

Whatever forces on earth that had been responsible for Adrien's crap day came back with reinforcements.

On Adrien's team was Rose, Juleka, Nathanael, Chloe, Sabrina, and Max. Against them, was Kim, Alix, Ivan, Alya, Nino, and Marinette.

_Whoever picked these teams is a moron._ He thought to himself.

Adrien, humble as he was, was an excellent goalie. Of course, he'd give the credit to his time as Chat Noir. The game was almost over, with the score tied 0-0. His team hadn't gotten anywhere near the other goal, but Adrien hadn't let a single ball in on his side.

His was bruised, battered, sweaty, and exhausted.

Of course, most of his teammates hadn't even broken a sweat.

Marinette stood nearby, waiting for the assist to the goal. Of course, having her so close was immediately a distraction, and all of his attention was on her.

"You're amazing," she told him, adorable blush on her cheeks. "Sorry we've been so ruthless, you know how Kim and Alix are."

He meant to thank her, to assure her there was nothing to apologize for.

But his brain decided to remind him, yet again, that he was talking to Ladybug.

"Thank Kay, you're not apologize. Amazing, yes!"

_Flawless_.

Her eyes widened slightly. "Are you okay?"

A low whine came from his throat, as he felt the need to shrivel up and die.

"Hey Dump King!" Kim shouted, "Block this!" And he kicked, with all the power in him.

To Adrien's credit, he did Block the ball, but it was with his face.

"Adrien!" A cacophony of voices called out to him.

He was on the ground, wetness on his face. And in too much pain to move.

"Adrien? Are you alright?" Marinette was above him, looking down at him with concern and so much love. "You're bleeding."

"Bleeding..." he swooned.

"Alright, alright," Mr. D'argencourt shooed everyone away from crowding him. "What happened."

"He took a ball to the face, and I think he hit his head on the way down."

"How many fingers am I holding up?" The coach stated, holding up three fingers.

"Three." Adrien said simply.

"Oh, he'll be fine." The coach said. "Will someone take Adrien to the nurse?"

Marinette opened her mouth to volunteer, but Lila shouted out first. "I'll take him!"

Adrien used Marinette's hand to climb to his feet, and then waved Lila off. "I'm fine, I can go on my own."

Lila latched onto his arm. "Oh please, let me help you."

"No, really, I'm—" He sneezed, flinging blood right on Lila's face and clothes.

She shrieked.

"Ah! I'm sorry! I didn't know I had a bloody nose!" He cupped his face, not really doing any good. He turned to Marinette, "Does it look okay?"

"I mean, you're bleeding, but nothing looks bruised yet."

Lila weaved her arm around his again, and pulled him away from Marinette. "Come on, let's take you to the nurse."

As she yanked him down the hall, Adrien looked down, and saw an absolutely menacing look on her gaze.

But it was gone just a moment later as she smiled up at him. "It's okay Adrien. Accidents happen."

He wasn't completely convinced.

The walk to the nurses office was quiet, and Lila departed just as they arrived.

The examination went smoothly as well. "Well, Mr. Agreste, you don't have a concussion, and your nose will be fine. It might be a while before it stops bleeding however."

"Will I bruise?"

"You might. But the skin isn't broken, so makeup should be able to cover anything."

He hated wearing makeup, but it was better than getting yelled at. He sighed. "Thank you ma'am."

"But you can keep this icepack on it for a little while. That'll help." Gently, she molded the icepack around his nose, and placed his hand on it to keep it steady. He sighed in relief. "Um, while I'm here…" He reached down and took off his shoe and sock. "I stubbed my toe earlier."

"Oh honey!" The nurse exclaimed. "Why didn't you see me earlier about that!? Look at how dark it is!"

Adrien hunched his shoulders. "I just…Didn't want you to call my dad."

The nurse considered it for a moment. "Alright, I won't call your father. But try to keep off of it, and ice it as much as possible. Alright?"

Adrien managed a smile. "Thank you."

After about 15 minutes, when his face went numb, he gave back the ice packs and decided to head back to class, a wad of tissue still up his nose.

In the hall, he ran into Lila, her face clean of any trace of blood, and her shirt damp, but clean as well. "Hey Adrien!"

"Oh, hi Lila…" He greeted cautiously.

"Is your nose still bleeding?"

"Yeah, the nurse said it's not broken though."

"That's good! I actually was on my way to the nurse's office to give you this." She held up a cylindrical wad of cotton, with a string on the end.

"Uh…what is it?"

"It's for packing nosebleeds. I get them all the time, so I always have them handy. All you have to do is put it in your nose and leave it there for an hour."

"Oh! Well…thanks! I…I just I'll go put this in now. Thank you!"

"It's no problem Adrien. I just wanted to make sure you were all better for our photoshoot this afternoon."

A chill ran down his spine. "Our…what?"

"Our photoshoot? I could have sworn it was today?"

No. Today was Friday. He was going to Marinette's for his first sleepover with friends! He made sure to clear his schedule! Quickly, he whipped out his phone and pulled up the spreadsheet with all his events.

Right there, in a block after school until late evening, a photoshoot was scheduled. Edited as of 10am this morning.

He growled in his throat, and then called Nathalie.

"Adrien, do you really think it's appropriate to call during school hours?"

"I had today off from modeling." He said by way of greeting. "I was supposed to hang out with friends."

"Yes, you were. But your father insisted on a shoot anyways. But he made sure to get your friend Lila as a model so you wouldn't feel too bad."

"Well, as long as I can hang out with them afterwards?"

"No, your father wants you to come home tonight."

"Why?"

"He just does, Adrien."

Adrien hung up, angry, upset, frustrated.

"I'm sorry Adrien, I thought you knew?" Lila said, with her little sing song voice.

"Well, it was scheduled at 10am, so no. I didn't."

"Weird, I got a text about it. Sorry!"

"Whatever," He huffed. He was done. This day officially sucked, and he'd find a way to cataclysm it right off the calendar.

Well, at least Lila had been kind enough to lend him this…thing. Whatever it was. He went to the bathroom to change out his tissues.

Yeah, he was still bleeding.

But the new cotton wad fit like a dream and he jammed it as far up into his nose as he could stand, and then went back to class.

Lila was already there when he returned, and Miss Bustier was in the middle of her lecture when he walked into the room.

She stared at him. "Oh…uh, glad to see you're alright, Adrien. But…um…"

"Dude," asked Nino, when no one else would, "why do you have a tampon up your nose?"

Adrien paled, considerably, "…this is a…?"

Nino nodded.

Kim burst out laughing first, and the rest of the class followed suit, while Adrien hid his shame with his hands.

Marinette, blessed, beautiful, and kind, did not laugh. Instead, she stood and went to him. "Come on." She grabbed his hand and tugged him along to the bathroom.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed Lila glaring at them, glaring at him, with a smile on her lips. It seemed she had changed targets.

She led him to the boys room, and opened the door. "Anybody in here?"

When there was no reply, she pulled him in, and steered him toward the sink.

"Go ahead and pull it out."

He did, the bleeding starting up again.

"Sorry I just commandeered the whole situation, but I had a feeling Lila was going to be less than helpful." She wadded up a ball of toilet paper and handed it to him. "Hold this to your nose for now."

With the ball under his nose, he just continued to gaze at her. "No, thank you for rescuing me. I've never dealt with a bloody nose before."

Marinette gave him this sympathetic little smile. "Well, lucky for you, I have. A handful of times."

Adrien remembered a dozen or so times when Ladybug got knocked a little too hard and ended up a little bloodied.

"Here," she took a strip of toilet paper and twisted it into a long string. "Now, you're going to fish this up your nostril as far as it will go. It will tickle and be uncomfortable, but I swear the bleeding will stop in a few minutes."

Adrien took the tissue and did as she instructed. He got the urge to sneeze again, but held it back.

"There. Now we'll just wait a little while and see if it stops."

"Thank you, Marinette. You really are our everyday Ladybug." He kind of felt stupid saying so, but it was so true.

Marinette tinged a lovely shade of pink, flicking her eyes away from his. "You've been having a pretty bad day today, huh?"

He groaned and almost collapsed on the floor. "The worst."

"Well, we'll just have to make up for it tonight, right? I know. You versus me, Ultimate Mecha Strike 4, battle to the death. What do you say?"

"That sounds like so much fun! But…"

"But?"

"My father…he changed his mind this morning. I can't go. I'm sorry Marinette, I really really _really _wanted to."

She deflated. Her shoulders dropped, her smile faded, even the light in her eyes snuffed out. "Oh."

He wanted to cry. "I'm serious, I'm really upset about this! I was so excited!" He choked.

The life came back into the girl in front of him, and she rested a gentle hand on his arm. "Hey, it's alright. We'll try again. If we're persistent, eventually your father will have to let you go, right?"

Despite the optimism in her voice, Adrien could she she was severely disappointed.

Maybe she really did have feelings for him.

"We better get back. How's your nose?"

He carefully extracted the tissue, only to find part of it still clean. "I think it's good. I'll just tuck a little bit in there just in case."

"Good idea."

"And...Marinette?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you. You're wonderful."

She blushed, and some of that light came back to her eyes.


	2. Evening

After school, Lila was quick to find Adrien and latch onto his arm. Then she practically dragged him out of the building while the collective student body chanted after him.

"Dump King! Dump King! Dump King!"

Adrien got in the car, followed by Lila.

Nathalie turned in her seat to look at him. "What happened to your face?"

As he opened his mouth to answer, Lila blurted out. "He got in a fight."

"A fight?!" Nathalie shouted, aghast.

"No I didn't!" Adrien protested, in horror. "I got hit with a soccer ball! I swear!"

Lila rested a hand on his arm. "It's okay Adrien. You shouldn't lie about this. I know you and Nino are friends, but he still should be punished for hitting you."

"But—!"

"Nino? As in Nino Lahiffe?"

"That's right."

"Mister Agreste will not be happy to hear about this."

"What are you doing?!" Adrien grit, hissing at Lila.

Lila smiled at him darkly, and whispered. "You picked your team, Adrien. I swore to tear Marinette down. You're going down with her. Maybe next time you'll think twice before you sneeze blood all over me."

"That was an accident!" He hissed.

"Then why did you turn to face me?"

"You're ridiculous!"

"Oh, you want to see ridiculous? I'll show you ridiculous." Then she turned away from him, getting out her phone.

It was a threat, nothing more. Lila couldn't possibly ruin him anymore than she just did. Right?

Although, with the way today was going, who knew?

As they travelled to the photo shoot, Adrien trained his eyes outside, noticing a lot more pigeons than usual.

"Great..." he muttered to himself. If this was the return of Mister Pigeon, again, he might get the chance to see Ladybug. But given Mister Pigeon's track record, the fight probably wouldn't even last long enough to talk to her.

And given the way things were at this moment, it wouldn't be wise to ditch a photoshoot. Even for something like Mister Pigeon, which would only take a second.

Ladybug could handle this one on her own. This, he was sure of.

So, dejected, he just sat back in his seat and tried not to think about the pain in his foot, or in his nose, or the anxiety of potentially getting pulled out of school.

_Marinette was Ladybug. _

With a growing horror, he realized this news didn't give him the same joy it had this morning. It had sunk in now. Of course Marinette was Ladybug. It was like a truth he had always known.

She was there when he was proclaimed the best pooper in the school. She saw him take a soccer ball to the face. She saw him standing in front of everyone with a tampon up his nose. And he had totally disappointed her when he told her he couldn't come over tonight.

She was probably disgusted with him. And he couldn't blame her either. He was pretty disgusted with himself.

—

The makeup artist was angry. She all but yelled at him when he sat in her chair. Something about carelessness and stupidity. Ruining a work of art, and wasting everyone's time and effort. Each word made him slump farther and farther into his chair.

He felt utterly worthless.

It was an outdoor shoot. But fortunately, it was a very fast photoshoot. Whether it was because of the overwhelming amount of pigeons absolutely everywhere, or because of his uncontrollable allergies, he didn't know, and he didn't care.

But by the time he was ushered back into the car, his eyes were almost swollen shut, and his nose bleed had come back from all of his sneezing. He had wiped most of his makeup off too.

"Don't worry Adrien, I'll make sure to finish the shoot. Your father needs a model he can count on after all." Lila beamed at him, her silent threat coming through her tone.

She was trying to usurp him as Gabriel's top model.

Well, she could take his job, for all he cared. Being a full time student, model, and superhero was never easy. He didn't really care for modeling that much anyway.

But it was the only thing he and his father shared anymore.

And he never ever wanted to disappoint his father. Modeling felt like he was needed, like he served a purpose in his family. Like he earned the luxury he lived in. Without that, what did he have?

He returned home, pinching his nose shut with one hand, and holding his school bag with the other. At least he was home now. This was a 'safe place'.

Except Gabriel stood on the stairs, glaring down at him. "Adrien."

The boy slumped, completely defeated. "Father."

"I'm disappointed with you."

"What's new?" Adrien shrugged.

Gabriel scowled, and Adrien shut his mouth.

"As you know, I monitor your social media activity. You were recently tagged in some photos on Marinette Dupain-Cheng's Instagram, wearing clothes I don't remember designing. Care to explain?"

"What? Oh! Yeah, Marinette designed them! She asked me to come along for the shoot to give the model some pointers, and then our friend Alya suggested I wear the clothes too, to show how unisex they were. Aren't they awesome?"

Gabriel sighed. "While Marinette's designs were very well executed and the photos well done, you breached your contract."

"My contract?"

"Yes, your modeling contract."

"I have a contract with Gabriel?"

"Of course you do! You get paid, don't you?"

"I thought...it was just an allowance?"

"No. Your wage is split between a monthly spending and savings."

"Oh…I had no idea."

"Hmm, interesting. Then why is your signature on the bottom of the contract?"

Adrien hunched his shoulders. "…I guess I didn't read it."

Gabriel pinched the bridge of his nose. "Unbelievable. You know, I'd fire you if you weren't my son."

Adrien winced. "And…since I am your son?"

"You're suspended, indefinitely. Until I figure out a way to get you to behave the way you're supposed to."

That hurt. He had been trying to please his father in every way possible, bending to his whims, being so obedient that it hurt. But he continued to fall short.

"Father, please...I just wanted to help a friend. I didn't think you'd mind...I'll do better, I promise."

For the first time in the conversation, Gabriel came closer and examined him, tilting his head up with a finger.

"What happened to you? You look like death."

"Lila Rossi says he got in a fight with Nino Lahiffe." Nathalie provided.

"That's not what happened!" Adrien corrected, loudly. "I got hit in the face with a soccer ball!"

"By who?"

"Doesn't matter, we were playing soccer, and it was an accident. The nurse looked at it and said it wasn't broken, just bruised."

"Then why did Lila say you got in a fight?"

"Because she's mad at me! She's causing drama because after I got the soccer ball to the face, my nose started bleeding and then I sneezed blood all over her."

Gabriel sneered. "That's the poorest excuse I've ever heard."

"It's not an excuse! It's the truth! Call anyone else in my class and ask! They'll tell you!"

"Quiet Adrien!" Gabriel demanded. "I don't know what wrong with you today, but this streak of disobedience ends now! You embarrassed me at that photoshoot. And I got a very disturbing phone call from one of your teachers today, something about you proclaiming yourself as 'dump king' and sticking feminine products up your nose!"

Adrien wanted to die in a hole.

"You realize such behavior not only reflects badly on you professionally, but also our family, my company."

"I know…"

"Then I expect there to be no more problems."

"There won't be. I don't know what's wrong with me today…just…unlucky."

Gabriel sighed. "I can't stand to look at you anymore. Go take some benadryl and lie down. I know it makes you drowsy, so I won't wait for you at dinner."

Adrien huffed, shouldering his bag, and started up the stairs. "Fine. I want this day to be over with already anyways."

—

In his room, Adrien dropped his bag on the floor. Homework could wait. It was only Friday after all.

"Aw, don't beat yourself up, Adrien. Your father's expectations are so ridiculously high, I don't think Jesus could reach them."

Normally, that would have made Adrien bark a laugh, but now he only hummed. Looking outside, he could see the pigeons still ruling over the streets.

There was no way Marinette was having problems with _Mr. Pigeon_. Right?

"We have to go out there, don't we?" Groaned Plagg.

Adrien sighed as well. "Yeah, come on. Claws out."

Chat Noir popped open his window, and launched himself out into the evening city.

Using his baton, he found that Ladybug was out and about, and he bounded out to her.

She was in a park, sitting on a bench, ice cream in hand, absolutely surrounded with birds, while Mr. Ramier sat next to her.

Wait.

Mr. Ramier?

Chat landed by the bench, a cloud of feathers fluttering up into the air as the birds scattered. They didn't go far though.

This, of course, let Chat explode into sneezes.

"Hey kitty cat." Ladybug smiled.

Wiping his nose, he looked to Ladybug and Mr. Ramier, with a look that was nothing but _done_. "What's with all the birds if you aren't akumatized?"

Mr. Ramier laughed. "Isn't it miraculous? _Columba palumbus _are on a momentous migratory flight_._ Once in a hundred years, they assemble like this! Isn't it wonderful?"

Chat sneezed again. "Great."

Ladybug giggled, a sound that was still wonderful, even in his funk. "Once I found out what it was, I decided to wait until you showed up, so you wouldn't go akuma hunting in this."

He sighed, sitting on the bench next to her. "Thanks for the consideration." He said flatly.

Ladybug reached up with her free hand and began to pet his scalp. "Oh what's wrong kitty cat?"

"Today sucks!" He announced, and then quite dramatically flopped onto her lap, whining lowly in his throat.

"Aw...poor kitty." Ladybug coddled him like a toddler throwing a tantrum. "Would a bite of ice cream help?"

"Always."

"Say 'ah!'" She got a bite on her spoon.

"Ah!" He opened his mouth wide, towards her.

Which ended up being the perfect target for the pigeon flying up ahead.

Bullseye!

Chat scrambled off of Ladybug's lap, spitting and scraping his tongue with his fingers.

"What was that?" Asked Ladybug.

"That goddamn bird shit in my mouth!" He said between sputters. "Can't I just enjoy some stupid ice cream!?" He shouted at the sky.

Silence, except for the birds fluttering away.

"Chat…"

He held up a hand to stop her. "Don't worry about it, Ladybug. I've just had a very frustrating day, and I…I need some rest."

She pouted, and held up her ice cream. "You can still have some."

He shook his head. "I'm afraid I've lost my appetite. But thank you. Sorry…for ruining your bird fest, Mr. Ramier." With a little salute, he pole-vaulted away.

But in his room, once de-transformed, Plagg started cackling like the pest he was.

Adrien had it with the little creature and snatched him out the air, stormed over to the window, and chucked him outside.

Of course, being a flying kwami and able to phase through solid objects, it wasn't but a few seconds before he was back in Adrien's face. "Hey, what's the big deal!?"

"I've had enough, Plagg! I don't need you laughing at me! I know my life is some sort of joke to you, but I really don't need it right now!" Tears gathered in his eyes in frustration. "You were right, okay? All my good luck is gone! And I can't even enjoy the fact that one of my best friends is the love of my life!"

Plagg sighed. "Geez kid, don't get all weepy on me. I can't stand it." He floated up and nuzzled against his cheek with a purr. "I just thought the pigeon thing was funny. Like, holy cow, that's unfortunate."

Adrien rolled his eyes and went into his bathroom, opening the medicine cabinet.

"But really, today was not as bad as it could have been." He shrugged.

Adrien slammed the cabinet closed and glowered at the kwami. "I've been humiliated in front of my classmates, _twice, _I broke my toe, I got my face smashed with a soccer ball, I hurt my crush's feelings, I dissed my best friend, I failed my test, I got targeted by the biggest liar in school, I basically got fired, and I might be pulled out of school! The pigeon thing was just the icing on the cake! Am I missing anything?!"

Plagg thought for a moment, and then said, "no, I think that's about everything."

Adrien popped two benadryl, and then flopped onto his bed with a moan. "I'm going to sleep. You can try to wake me up if there's an akuma, but I won't hear you."

"Tch, whatever drama queen."

A few minutes later, the medicine took effect and Adrien slipped off to dreamland.


	3. Night

Sometime, when it was dark out and the house was quiet, Adrien roused from his sleep. It was raining now, the thunder softly rumbling in the distance. He felt gross, having slept in his clothes. His toe hurt, his face ached, and he was so goddamn tired.

But he was also hungry, and his stomach growled loudly.

"…skipped dinner…" he mutter to himself as he sat up. Plagg was passed out next to him, his little tummy bloated.

Adrien changed into his pajamas, intent on going back to sleep after he got some food, and slipped on house slippers.

With a small smile, Adrien scooped Plagg up and deposited him into the pocket of his sweat pants.

Quietly, Adrien left his room, and began to head down the stairs, but stopped, just as he was about to round the corner.

Nathalie and his father were still awake, and they were talking.

"If she's making these kind of lies up about Adrien, it would be better to drop her as an ally. Adrien's in enough trouble anyways. I don't need fabricated problems on him as well."

"But what about her ability to facilitate akumas? She's even better than Chloe at it."

"It's a shame, but the betrayal she'll feel at being dropped will cause some perfect anger and rage. There might even be other akuma's in store too."

Adrien's blood ran cold. Why the hell was his father talking about akumas? Why did he care?

"Uh, master?" Asked a very small and timid voice. "You aren't still thinking about akumatizing Adrien, are you?"

"After the day he had, he would have been perfect. I'll wait until he wakes up to see what kind of mood he's in. I could always tell him I'm pulling him out of school for sure. That would put him over the edge."

Adrien's fist tightened, as he clawed at the banister. Without his consent, his feet started walking forward, until he was at the top of the stairs.

There, he could see his father and Nathalie seated, and two kwamis floating nearby. One that looked like a butterfly, and the other like a peacock.

He wanted to vomit.

Nathalie noticed him first. "Oh! Adrien!"

The two kwamis ducked out of sight, but it was far too late.

"What…are those?" Adrien's voice sounded foreign. Angry, cold, hollow.

"You're awake," said Gabriel, nervousness leaking into his voice. "Are you hungry? You missed din—"

"You're Hawkmoth." He breathed. "And…she's Mayura…."

"Adrien…" Gabriel said it so gently, reassuringly.

"Don't lie to me!" He hissed. "I heard you! You said you wanted to akumatize me!"

"Son, come on…" Gabriel reached for him, but he backed away.

Adrien started shaking his head. "This…this can't be happening. This isn't real!" He wailed.

Gabriel sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Adrien, I will explain everything. I promise. I'm sorry."

Adrien just stood and quivered, tears streaming down his cheeks.

Plagg was awake in his pocket, nuzzling against his leg to calm him.

"Come on. I won't hurt you." Gabriel beckoned him towards his office.

Everything in Adrien was screaming at him to run. Run far and fast. He'd tell his Lady, and this whole thing would be over. They'd get their happily ever after and this nightmare of a day would be over.

But he couldn't forgive himself if he went the rest of his life never knowing the 'why'. So silently, he followed him into his office, up to the painting of his mother.

Gabriel pressed on a set of buttons, and started to descend in an elevator. He was quick to pull Adrien on with him too.

Down they went, down into the depths of the basement. A large room, with a garden at the end.

He had to still be dreaming, right? Surely this was a nightmare induced by his terrible day.

But no. At the end of the walkway laid a garden with dozens of white butterflies fluttering around in the space.

And a glass coffin, with his mother inside.

At the sight of her, Adrien began to cry, fat tears rolling off his cheeks and he was helpless to stop it.

A heavy hand laid on his shoulder. "The peacock miraculous is broken," he began. "It wears the user out, and makes them sick. Emilie, your mother, wielded it first. Soon, she succumbed to the illness and fell into a long, deep sleep. If I can get my hands on the Black Cat and Ladybug miraculous, I can make a wish, and wake her up. Then we'll be a family again. Don't you see?"

Adrien's mouth was too dry, and his words were stuck. He couldn't even remember to how to speak. All he could see was his mother's sleeping face. The one he had so desperately missed in this passed year. She looked exactly the same.

"I did this all for you."

Adrien shook his head, refusing to accept that. "No…no you didn't."

"Adrien…" Gabriel began, trying to explain it to him like his was thick.

"No. Because if this was for me, you would have told me right away! You would have let me know that she wasn't gone! You would have let me see her! I—I miss her so much! And you knew that! But she's been here this whole time! And you never once told me about it!"

Gabriel held his hand out. "But you know now, and you can help me get the Miraculous."

"No. Absolutely not. You…you're crazy if you think I'm going to stay in this goddamn house one more minute! I need—I need to get out of here! How do I get out!?"

Gabriel sighed. "Calm down, Adrien. Let's talk this through."

Adrien ran back to the elevator, and pressed an up arrow, the elevator blessedly starting to move.

Upstairs, he burst from the office and practically sprinted up the stairs to his room. In his closet, he dug out his duffle bag and started to pack up his essentials.

Plagg didn't say a word. What comfort was there to give?

Far too quickly, Gabriel appeared in the doorway. "Adrien, you don't need to go anywhere. You're safe here."

"I don't _feel_ safe!"

"Adrien, I promise I'm not going to hurt you."

"You say that now! Now that you've been caught!"

"Adrien—"

"You've akumatized every single one of my classmates! Some more than once! You constantly make me rub shoulders with people like Lila and Chloe, who brew akumas better than anyone! Now you expect me to believe I'm safe here?! Are you kidding me!?"

"Adrien, calm down." Gabriel demanded.

"Or what?! You'll akumatize me!?"

Gabriel didn't deny it, but the glare on his face showed otherwise. "I forbid you from leaving this house."

"If you want me to visit you in jail, you'll stay out of my way." He bit back.

That did it. The sternness in his eyes gave way to panic, and he stepped aside.

Adrien shouldered his bag and headed down the stairs.

"Your driver will take you to Miss Bourgeois hotel." Gabriel ordered, so plainly.

"No. He won't." Adrien bit, reaching the door. "I'm making my own decisions now. I'm going my own way. All my life, I have done everything I could to please you. To make you proud of me. But I can't anymore. Because you'll keep bending me until I snap. And then you'll walk over my shattered pieces. But I have people I'd gladly bend over backwards for, because they're willing to bend for me too. Maybe you should learn to be more flexible, Hawkmoth."

With that, he slammed the door shut behind him, and took off running.

—

He should have transformed.

Plagg was in his ear telling him to. It was safer. It was faster. But Adrien couldn't muster up the nerve to do so. He felt like he was being watched. Like Gabriel had the city in the palm of his hand, waiting to strike.

He couldn't breathe, he couldn't swallow, all he could do was run.

Finally, the bakery was in sight, and he didn't stop until he collided with the door. He pounded with his fist, and rang the bell, his knees threatening to buckle.

Finally, the hall light went on, and he could see a clock on the wall.

Midnight.

Marinette, Alya, and Nino all hurried down the stairs.

The door opened slightly, Marinette's face poking out, and then all the way when she realized who was there. "Adrien!"

"Dude, you're soaked! What happened?"

At the sight of his lady, Adrien broke down. He threw his arms around her and just started weeping. He clawed at her skin and buried his face in her shoulder as he wailed. He was soaking her with rainwater, tears, and snot, but he couldn't find the energy to stop.

"Dude!"

"Marinette! Look out!" Alya's cry pierced him in the heart before a chill over took him.

He could hear his father's voice in his head. _"Adrien…"_

"No!" Adrien shouted, pulling away from Marinette and keeping her at arms length. "Leave me alone! **_Leave me alone!_** You ruined my life! I hate you! I hate you so goddamn much! Why won't you just leave me alone!?"

The chill disappeared, and he was himself again.

Marinette's warm hands laid against his damp skin, and caressed his cheeks. "Hey...look at me Adrien."

Her eyes were filled with tears, sparkling like stars. She was smiling her heartbreaking smile at him. "You're safe now. I've got you."

"You got me…" He whispered, choking.

Then he hugged her again, sobbing as the day's frustrations rolled off of him one by one.

Nino wrapped an arm around him and brought him fully into the bakery, while Alya closed and locked the door.

He pulled away, rubbing his eyes. "I'm so sorry...you guys were probably having so much fun—"

"Shh." Marinette combed his bangs away from his face. "You ruined nothing. We are ecstatic that you're here."

"We were so bummed when you said you couldn't make it." Added Nino, hand still on his shoulder. "I'm so happy you're here."

Marinette took his hand gently. "Come on, let's get you some dry clothes. Have you eaten?"

His stomach growled. "I'm starving."

"Great!" Chirped Alya, "cause we made too much pizza! Mister 'I can eat a whole pie myself' over here only ate two slices!"

"But they were the biggest slices!" Nino protested.

Adrien laughed. Feeling better already.

In the apartment, Alya shoo'ed them upstairs. "Go on," she urged. "We'll keep the pizza warm."

Marinette blushed but took him up to her room anyways.

She closed the trap door behind her, thankfully.

"I've got just the thing for you." She announced, going to the chest next to her chaise. "I was going to give you these for Christmas, but I have another gift idea in mind anyways." She dug around, and then pulled out a pair of pajamas.

A red shirt that said 'Bug Out!" in black ink. Then a pair of extremely soft pants, that were black with red polka dots on them. "Here, I made them myself. I even designed the logo and screen printed it. Nino let it slip that you have a thing for Ladybug...do you like them?"

He gathered them into his hands, reveling in the softness of the fabric.

His lady made these, just for him!

He started sobbing again.

"Oh Adrien..."

"I-I-I'm sorry!" He croaked. "I love them! I'm so happy you made these for me! I love you so much!"

Out of all the things he needed to tell her, that wasn't supposed to be the first.

Oh well.

She stared at him with impossibly wide eyes. "You...you _love_ me?"

She began to smile, before it faded into something akin to disappointment. She tried to hide it, but he was too familiar with fake smiles.

He wiped his eyes and took a breath. "That's not what I meant to say. Not that I don't love you! I do! I mean! You're great! And…I'm sorry…I'm…I'm a mess."

Marinette just wiped his face with her thumb. "It's okay…something obviously happened tonight. We'll talk about it, when you're ready." Then she glanced over to the duffle he brought with him. "That looks like more than an overnight bag."

"Yeah...I might...I might need a place to stay for a while..." he hiccuped.

With a soft smile, she steered him to the changing screen on the other side of the room.

"We have a guest room," she offered. "Maman and papa are gone this weekend, but I'm sure they'd love to have you. If you'd like to stay here. Unless the Lahiffe's don't mind if you stay on their couch."

"Wherever I am the least a burden." He came out from behind the screen, looking smaller than Marinette had ever seen him. "I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable, or intrude."

"You will be welcome here." Marinette assured, taking his hand. "I promise."

Tears started to fall again, and Marinette was quick to catch him. She pulled him into a hug, holding onto him tightly.

"I'm so scared, Marinette. I don't know what to do."

She squeezed him, attempting to crush the sadness in her friend. "Well, let's get you something to eat. Sometimes, being hungry makes things seem worse than they are."

"Okay…" Adrien doubted that was the case in this scenario, but he was very hungry.

Together, they travelled down to the kitchen, only to find Alya and Nino both asleep, each side of the 'L' shaped couch taken.

Marinette hummed. "Well, that's fine. Let's get you some food, and then we can sit in my room and talk. 'Kay?"

Adrien nodded. Not that he didn't love Alya and Nino, but he and Marinette _had_ to talk. He couldn't push this aside for now.

She got him a plate, with two slices of margarita pizza, some chips, a soda, and a handful of chouquettes.

The meal looked amazing, because it was everything he wasn't allowed to eat.

When they retreated and the trap door shut, Alya and Nino peeked at each other and high fived.

In Marinette's room, she urged him up towards the bed. "It's more cozy up here," she explained, a blush staining her cheeks.

He didn't need to be told twice.

He scampered up the ladder and made himself comfortable, while she did the same.

While he ate, they made small talk. Marinette telling him all about what they did so far.

"No pillow fights?"

"We don't really do pillow fights. That's more of...an American thing? I think? Mostly just movies."

He pouted, before polishing off his last chouquette. "That's disappointing."

"Well, then you know you didn't miss it. Alya did paint my toe nails though." She showed off her sparkling green toes. Her big toes had little black paw prints on them.

"Oh my god!" He sobbed, and started crying again.

"Adrien?"

"It's so—so—cute! I can't stand it!" He wiped his eyes. "I'm getting really tired of bursting into tears over everything. I'm sorry. My emotions are shot."

"It's okay," she assured softly. "Are you ready to talk about what happened?"

He set his empty plate on the little shelf by her bed, and then reclined to get more comfortable. He took a little pillow and hugged it to his chest. "There's a lot I have to tell you. Each is equally important. I just…don't know what order to tell you them. I don't want you to get mad."

Marinette touched his head ever so gently, petting his hair. "I won't get mad."

"Promise?"

"Of course. I'm here for you Adrien. Whatever you need."

He clutched the pillow a little tighter, gathering his courage. "I…I know you're Ladybug."

He was expecting an explosion. A complete freak out.

But what he got instead, was a soft exhale and, "I know."

"Wait, what?"

"Tikki told me. She said you saw me this morning detransform. You were in the stall I ran into…and I totally didn't notice."

Adrien buried his face in the pillow. "I didn't know how to tell you! I was going to! But—"

"It was embarrassing, I know." She laughed a little. "I guess that's what I get for panicking and running into the wrong bathroom."

"Don't blame yourself, Marinette. You're perfect."

Her voice became a little deeper, a little softer. "I'm really not."

That grabbed his attention, and he looked up to her. "…do…you…have a crush on me?"

She sighed again, her face red and her lips pulled into a wobbly smile. "You found out about that, too?"

"I'm told Nino is a dead man if he told me, but he heavily hinted at it."

She shook her head. "Why? Why would he tell you that?"

"Because I told him that I was in love with you."

The disappointed look came back to her face, and she looked away. "No, you aren't."

"But I am!" He sat up quickly, kneeling in front of her. "I swear I am!"

"Adrien…" She took his hands, rubbing her thumbs over his knuckles. "You love Ladybug. And…while I am her…you never showed that kind of interest in Marinette. You only think you're in love with me now, because you know."

He shook his head, frantically. "No, no that's not it at all!" He pulled her forward into him, hugging her again. "Please let me prove it to you, Mari. I can't lose you. You're all I have left."

Concerned, and so full of love, Marinette hugged him back. He was shaking in her arms, and holding her so tightly, like he was afraid she'd disappear.

Gently, she pulled away just enough to look at him. "Okay, I believe you." She assured, even though she wasn't completely convinced.

He managed a weak smile, and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"There's more, isn't there?" The joy and sunshine that seemed to live inside of him was completely snuffed out. "If you really love me, and found out I had a crush on you...you wouldn't be upset like this."

"No, that was the best thing that ever happened to me. The luckiest, actually. So…I only had bad luck the rest of the day."

She thought back to what she had seen that day. Him limping around, his failed test, his 'dump king' status…all of it seemed to pile up.

With a thoughtful frown, she pulled him back with her against the pillows, so that he could rest his head on her chest and she could pet his hair.

"Okay. I'm not going to talk. Pretend I'm not Marinette or Ladybug. Pretend I'm not even here. Just tell me everything."

He relaxed against her, snuggling into her hold.

"It started this morning. I grabbed the first stall, which I knew didn't latch properly, but I forgot until I sat down. I couldn't close the door, so you didn't notice that I was in there. But you ran in, dropped your transformation, and then left. It was only a couple seconds, but I recognized you immediately. I…I was elated. Ladybug, one of my best friends! The love of my life was right there!"

He hid his face, so he couldn't see her reaction.

"I was so happy about it, even though it was super embarrassing, and then Plagg had to go and ruin it by mentioning that it was likely that all of my good luck was used up for the day."

Marinette stopped petting him, but she didn't move away.

From his place on her chest, he could hear her heart rate increase. He swallowed, waiting for her reaction.

She just exhaled slowly, shakily, and said, "Continue."

Letting out his own shaky breath, he proceeded to recap the day. Starting with breaking his toe, and being humiliated in front of the class, then going into the threat from Lila and being suspended from work.

Then he grew tense. This stopped being a therapy session, and now it was a business meeting.

He sat up, straddling her legs. He wanted to hold her hands, but he didn't dare touch her. Just met her gaze, so she could see how serious he was.

"I woke up not long before I came here, and went downstairs to get some dinner. But…I saw my father and Nathalie talking…and…"

The moment came back to him, the horror of what he had learned, the very idea that his whole life had changed. Things wouldn't be okay for a long time. His eyes started to water again.

But Marinette just sat there patiently, listening with an easy smile on her face.

"I saw…they had…my father was saying…that he wanted to akumatize me. And both Nathalie and him had kwamis. I couldn't…I couldn't stop myself. I confronted him."

Slowly, he wrapped his arms around himself, squeezing his arms. "My father is Hawkmoth. And…Nathalie is Mayura." He sniffed. "He tried to recruit me, and he showed me why he was doing this. My…my mother…she's still alive. She's in a coma, in the basement. He thinks if he can get both of the Miraculous, he can use the power to wake her up—" He choked and covered his mouth with his hand.

Marinette watch him, as his eyes grew wide and he began to spiral into self doubt.

"Then what happened?" She urged, trying to get it all out now before he completely shut down.

"I told him I…I didn't feel safe being there. So I packed a bag, and threatened not to visit him in prison if he didn't let me go." He swallowed. "And then I ran here. Because…I knew it was safe. _You _were safe."

"You didn't transform?"

"I was too afraid to. I assumed he sent an akuma after me, to see where I went…and I was right. I'm sorry."

She shook her head, and reached out for him again.

"You're being awfully calm about this." He noted.

"One of us has to be." She eased him to lay on her again, resuming her petting. "I freaked out enough today as it is."

"Because I saw you?"

"Yeah. And because I walked in on you in the bathroom. Talk about embarrassing."

"I think I out-embarrassed you today," he said with a weak smile.

"It's okay, kitty."

He hummed and began to purr.

Suddenly, she shoved him off of her with a little scream.

"My Lady?!"

"You really are _him_! You are Chat Noir!"

"I mean—yeah? Did—did I not mention that?"

"Not explicitly! You just brought up Plagg a few times and the pigeon thing, but I was trying to separate myself from the situation to stay calm, but the second you purred it was like…it finally clicked! You're Chat!"

He hunched his shoulders. "Is…is that a bad thing?"

"No! No no minou not at all! I'm so happy! I'm just—shocked!"

"Then why did you look so disappointed when I said I loved you?"

She blushed. "Because it's like I said…I thought you only loved me because I was Ladybug. And Adrien didn't really know Ladybug. They had only met a few times, but Marinette…I was always there. But knowing that you're Chat softens the blow, I guess. Because I know Chat really does love me."

"Let's stop talking like we're different people." Adrien said softly. "I love you, Mari. Both parts of you. Yes, I fell in love with Ladybug first, but Marinette was always important to me. Finding out that you were the same person was just this moment of 'oh duh'. Ladybug can't be anyone but _you_, My Lady."

"Adrien…"

"Even before I knew, I called you our everyday Ladybug, right?"

She gave him a shy smile. "Alright, I guess you've convinced me."

"Good." He tackled her back to the mattress, trapping her in his arms. "Because I'm going to start crying again any minute now, and I need you to pet me again."

"Oh kitty cat…" She softened at his tone and got to work running her fingers through his damp hair.

"Marinette," He purred, settling on her collar bone. "I'm so glad I found you. I didn't know what to do and I—" he choked.

"Shh, it's okay. We're partners, right? We always have each other's backs?"

He nodded.

"Then tonight, don't worry about your dad, or any of that other crap that happened. Let's just…enjoy each other."

He melted. His purr growing with each stroke, his heart began to settle and the ache startled to subside. "I love you."

She didn't respond immediately, pausing her pets. Then she licked her lips and confessed, "You were the other guy."

Adrien pushed up on his arms, looking down to her. "What?"

She flushed. "The reason I kept pushing away Chat Noir…was because I was desperately in love with Adrien."

He blinked. "Desperately?"

"Desperately." She whispered.

They were already so close. Their noses almost touching.

She could smell his cologne. The spicy scent surrounded her, sending goosebumps over her arms.

"And…does that change now? Now that you know…" his voice deepened, as his nose brushed against hers. "This handsome model…is also your silly kitty?"

Her voice was just a whisper. "It makes things easier."

"Yeah?"

"It means…I can love, and I don't have to pick between the two most important boys in my life."

"Mari…"

She could feel the heat from his lips, so tantalizingly close. She raised her hands, one cupping his cheek, the other playing with the hair on the back of his neck. "Are you going to kiss me?"

He smiled, a huff of air fanning on her lip. "I'm just savoring the moment, My Lady. I know this is nearly routine for you. But this will be my first kiss that I remember."

She smiled back. "I'll be sure to make it memorable."

"Every moment with you is worth remembering."

He crashed his lips onto hers, snaking his arms around her to hold her.

Desperate is what she said, and that's what this kiss was. Giving so much, and receiving more in return. Short kisses that started again before they ended, peppered with little smacks and moans. Tongues that, nervously at first, darted out to tease. Then slowly, long, languid dances and tug-o-wars. Adrien inhaled her, savoring her scent, her taste, her silky smooth feel. His hand rode up her shirt, and he moaned at the flawless skin of her back.

Her hand skirted up his neck and into his hair, her nails scrapping against his scalp.

His purr came back, vibrating between them like a shared heart.

Almost effortlessly, he rolled, flipping them over so she was on top. It didn't even break the kiss.

Marinette broke away with a squeak when his hand went down and grabbed her butt.

"I'm sorry!" He blushed, still so close. "I…I had just been thinking about that adorable butt of yours all day and…sorry, I sound like a total pervert."

She shook her head, before pecking him gently. "Nah, I think your butt is pretty cute too."

"You check out my butt?"

"Honey, in that leather, it's hard not to."

He barked a laugh that almost startled her. "You're too cute."

"I'm not the one with the full page magazine spreads."

"I'm pretty sure Ladybug was on the cover of Time Magazine."

"And Chat Noir was on the cover of Vogue."

"Leather's in, baby."

She kissed him again to shut him up. When she pulled away, he was just smiling softly at her.

"I never want to stop kissing you." He admitted. "That was awesome."

"You can kiss me anytime you want. You just have to do one thing."

"Anything." He breathed, earnestly.

"Let me be your girlfriend."

"Psh, I'd let you be my wife this second if I could. But I guess I'll settle for girlfriend."

She kissed his nose. "Seems like your luck finally turned around."

"The luckiest I've ever been." He beamed, then he froze in horror. "Shit!"

"What?"

"I used up all my good luck in one go again!"

"Thats okay. You'll just have to borrow mine."

Aw, who needed luck anyway?


End file.
